Michael Kownacky

We’ll be off to Spain and tilting at windmills on this week’s Sunday Opera (9/15 3:00 p.m.) with Jules Massenet’s “Don Quichotte” from the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  Ferruccio Furlanetto is the fabled knight of the “Woeful Countenance” and Clementine Margaine his Dulcinee.  Along for the ride will be Nicola Alaimo as the faithful Sancho.  Sir Andrew Davies conducts the Lyric Opera Chorus and Orchestra.  Join host Michael Kownacky for an afternoon that will continue with more music of Massenet including his short two-act opera “Therese” featuring Agnes Baltsa and Francisco Araiza.  

We’re going to be showcasing something we think that’s missing in many places on this week’s Dress Circle (9/15 7:00 p.m.): heart.  Our songs with heart come from shows including “Chess,” “Carnival,” “On Your Toes,” “Damn Yankees,” “The New Starlight Express,” and “Tarzan” as well as others including “The Land of Smiles,” “Inside U.S.A.”, “Spring Is Here,” and “Leave It to Me.”   We’ll look at hopeful hearts, stalwart hearts, broken hearts, and giddy hearts, but with everything said and done, we still “gotta have” it.

Everything that makes grand opera grand – passion, lies, betrayal, madness, murder, and suicide – are on tap for this week’s Sunday Opera (9/8 3:00 p.m.) in Gaetano Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” from the Lyric Opera of Chicago.   Lucia and Edgardo are from two feuding families in 17th century Scotland, but they are in love.  This love is thwarted by Lucia’s brother Enrico who lies to her that Edgardo has been unfaithful so that she will marry another to benefit him, and the tragic events are set in action.   You’ll hear Albina Shagimuratova as Lucia, Piotr Beczala as Edgardo, and Quinn Kelsey as Enrico with Enrique Mazzola leading the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus.  

Mozart’s fantastic romp “The Magic Flute” from the Lyric Opera of Chicago is this week’s offering on The Sunday Opera (9/1 3:00 p.m.).  Prince Tamino is charged with passing a series of tests to win the hand of Princess Pamina whose mother just happens to be the wicked Queen of the Night whose well-known aria in which she condemns her daughter to painful death unless Pamina kills the Queen’s wizard rival Sarastro is consistently used to try to sell cars for some reason.  With the help of the bumbling “bird man” Papageno, Tamino wins his love and the Queen and her minions are defeated!  

This week’s Sunday Opera (8/25 3:00 p.m.) travels back to ancient Gaul for a tale of forbidden love and betrayal in Vincenzo Bellini’s “Norma” from the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  In it, the Druid priestess Norma has fallen in love with the pro-counsel of the invading Roman forces, Pollione, and against the law, has had two children with him.  When Pollione abandons Norma for one of her attending priestesses, Adalgisa, it sets in motion the tragedy which ends in death for Norma and Pollione in the sacrificial flames. 

It’s an afternoon of classical invaders on this week’s Sunday Opera (8/18 3:00 p.m.) that begins with Verdi’s “Attila” from La Scala in Milan featuring Ildar Adbrazakov in the title role and Saioa Hernandez as Odabella.  Riccardo Chailly conducts a cast that also in cludes George Petean, Fabio Sartori, Francesco Pittari, and Gianluco Bratto.  After the opera, join Michael Kownacky for other invasions including Shostakovich’s 7th or “Leningrad” Symphony, Janacek’s Taras Bulba Rhapsody, and a bit of Poledouris’ score for “Conan the Barabarian.”

Join us as we jet off to Rome for this week’s Sunday Opera (8/11 3:00 p.m.) and the Teatro dell’Opera’s production of Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice” featuring Carlo Vistoli and Mariangela Sicilia as the doomed lovers and Emoke Barath as Amore with Gianluca Capuano leading the chorus and orchestra of the Rome Opera.  After the opera, join Michael Kownacky for more music based on the Orpheus legend with Jacques Offenbach’s wonderful send-up, “Orpheus in the Underworld,” in its only complete English translation by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company.  

We’ll begin a series of European opera productions brought to us through RAI, Italian National Public Broadcasting, and the first opera comes to us from Foggia and the Rossini Opera Festival on this week’s Sunday Opera (8/4 3:00 p.m.).  “Adina” is a somewhat forgotten 1826 “farsa” that looks to the same source material for “The Abduction from the Seraglio” for its story about a lost daughter, Adina, who is recognized by her father, the Calaph, just before she is to be put to death for trying to run away with the man she loves.  

Two of Umberto Giordano’s thirteen operas will be featured on this week’s Sunday Opera (7-28  3:00 p.m.)  First, we conclude our series from London’s Royal Opera House with what is probably his best known work, “Andrea Chenier,” which is about the 18th century French poet who was sent to the guillotine by a jealous man because of his love for Maddalena, who is also loved by that man, Carlo Gerard.  The cast includes Roberto Alagna as Chenier, Sondra Radvanovsky as Maddalena who switches places with another so that she can die with Chenier, and Dimitri Platanias as the jealous Gerard.  

Benjamin Brittan’s treatment of Herman Melville’s final novel “Billy Budd” is this week’s Sunday Opera (7/21 3:00 p.m.) from London’s Royal Opera House.  This tale of obsession and remorse is played out against the perilous life on the 18th century warship Indomitable.  The good-natured Billy is the object of scorn of the master-at-arms Claggart who goes out of his way to make sure that Billy is destroyed much to the remorse of the captain, Edward Vere, who realizes that he could have saved Billy had he paid attention.  

Whether you call it “The Force of Destiny” or “The Power of Fate,” Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” from London’s Royal Opera House is this week’s Sunday Opera (7/14 3:00 p.m.).  After its premier in St. Petersburg in 1862, the opera was revised for a performance in Rome in 1863 under the title of “Don Alvaro.”  From there, it was further revised for performances in New York and Vienna in 1865, Buenos Aires in 1866, and London in 1867 with further extensive revisions to both the music and libretto for a La Scala performance in 1869, and that final revision has become the standard version.  

We’ll journey to 18th century St. Petersburg on this week’s Sunday Opera (7-7 3:00 p.m.) and a story of obsession in Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades” from London’s Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.  Hermann seems to be fascinated by gambling although he never gambles himself.  However, after hearing about an aging countess who holds the secret to a winning three-card combination, he finds he cannot help but confront the old woman for her secret which begins his spiral into an obsession which results in death and ruin.  Antonio Pappano conducts a cast that includes Aleksandrs Antonenko as Hermann, Felicity Palmer as the aging Countess, Eva-Maria Westbroek as her granddaughter Liza, who tragically falls in love with Hermann.   

Travel back to 14th century Genoa with this week’s Sunday Opera (6/30 3:00 p.m.) and Giuseppe Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra” from London’s Royal Opera House.  Simon, a former pirate, is now the Doge of Genoa who is working for peace between Genoa and Venice while dealing with unrest from his own people and the loss of his one true love.  Carlos Alvarez leads the cast as Simon, Ferrucio Furlanetto is Jacopo Fiesco, his rival and the father of his beloved, Hrchuhi Bassnez is Amelia, Boccanegra’s “lost” daughter, Francesco Meli is Gabriele, Amelia’s beloved, and Mark Rucker is the treacherous Paolo.  Henrik Nansi conducts.  

Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried” comes to the Sunday Opera this week (6/23 3:00 p.m.) from London’s Covent Garden.  The third installment of the Ring cycle follows Siegfried in his quest to learn fear as he kills the dragon Fafner and finds Brunhilde with whom he immediately falls in love, and that love teaches him fear through his desperation.  Sefan Vinke heads the cast as Siegfried, Gerhard Siegel is Mime, John Lundgren is Wotan, and Johannes Martin Kranzle is Albreich.  Antonio Pappano conducts. 

Wagner’s warrior women are storming this week’s Sunday Opera (6/16 3:00 p.m.) with the production of “Die Walkure” from London’s Royal Opera House.  Several members of the company of “Das Rheingold” are returning here, with John Lundgren once again appearing as Wotan.  Lise Davidsen appears here as Ortlinde and Sarah Connolly is Fricka.  Joining them are Stuart Skelton as Siegmund, Emily Magee as Sieglinde, Ain Anger as Hunding, and Nina Stemme as Brunnhilde.  

Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” begins on The Sunday Opera this week (6/9 3:00 p.m.) – Well, three out of four!  This week is “Das Rheingold” featuring a stellar cast including Johannes Martin Kranzle as Alberich, Lauren Fagan as Woglinde, Christina Bok as Wellgunde, and Andela Simkin as Flosshilde.  Wotan is John Lundgren, Fricka is Sara Connolly, and Freia is Lise Davidsen.